You can see the changing ways of the Indians the last couple years. Tough to find inexpensive seats anymore, regardless of how many empty ones that may mean.

I had chance to get Opening Day seats early as result of Progressive's affiliation. $77 per seast fro Sec129 Row CC. Decent seats, not $80 seats. But alas, my oldest doesn't play soccer or volleyball so part of her deal is Tribe games so I got them.

(OT- I got a text from her the other day that said, "Confused by home plate collision rules- MLB needs to stop being sissies and play the game" )

Anyway.... Tribe needs to crush dates they know will be popular. As I said to Adam earlier today, the Opening Day ticket prices are like the fucking lottery. It's a tax on the casual fan instead of the poor, but it's a strategic play by Indians. Also, you can cheaper on games 2-81 but you need to plan ahead. Helps manage the Tribe's gameday needs, food and beverage costs, etc.

Just an interesting change that's been taking place for a couple years and one I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Of course I can't find the damn article, but I figured it was trending this way when the Indians went to an analytics firm to help them with attendance-based revenue. It's essentially an extension of the team's stance on sabermetrics. They don't have a big market (payroll), so they have to use the data they have at their disposal to create a plan. That plan was to try and project attendance (sabermetrics to project performance) through dynamic pricing and encouraging advance sales.

As Peeker and I talked about, it has effectively killed the walk-up crowd. When upper bleacher tickets sell out, it's a minimum of $25 to get into the park unless you find a friendly scalper. It takes away all of the spontaneity of going to a game. It has to be a planned, scheduled event. For me, living 10 minutes from downtown, it's a major inconvenience because it's not like I have a 30-minute or hour-long commute to hold me back. If upper bleacher are available, I'll go. If not, since I'm usually not occupying a seat anyway, it's a lot more of a financial commitment.

I get why they're doing it. It makes the most sense from a staffing standpoint. It gives them the opportunity to project attendance-based revenue for the team's payroll and other expenses.

I spoke with a season ticket rep on Wednesday because I was considering adding that to the four voucher packs I bought from Drug Mart. Last season, the Drug Mart voucher packs worked before the general public sale, so I was able to jump on Opening Day tickets and get a head start on everything else. This year, thanks to a generous friend, I got a presale password and was able to get my Home Opener tickets a few days before the online presale. But, my voucher code did not work and I had to pay $37/ticket as opposed to the $10/ticket my voucher pack could have given me. Upper bleachers were sold out anyway.

What I was told was that the Indians realized that things like the voucher packs, Entertainment and Enjoy the City coupon book BOGO offers and similar promotions undermined their ability to sell season tickets. Which, quite frankly, I took advantage of in lieu of season tickets, so I see their point. So, they've dumped a lot of advertising money into season tickets and have stressed the buy ahead and save mantra.

As I told Peeker, I don't think demand meets supply throughout the season, but if I have to pay a surcharge to watch 92-70 instead of 68-94, I'll do that.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

I hate the fact that me and my buddies can no longer get our afternoon drink on , and say "fuck it , lets go to the Tribe game". Coupled with the sin tax, this just adds insult to injury for the drinking man.

"I don't think they're building chemical weapons in Berea. But they might be. I can't say for sure."Chuck Klosterman

Govbarney wrote:I hate the fact that me and my buddies can no longer get our afternoon drink on , and say "fuck it , lets go to the Tribe game". Coupled with the sin tax, this just adds insult to injury for the drinking man.

The county's sin tax is assessed at 4.5 cents per pack of cigarettes, 1.5 cents per 12-ounce bottle of beer, 6 cents per 750-milliliter bottle of wine, 32 cents per gallon of mixed beverages, 24 cents per gallon of cider and $3 per gallon of hard liquor.

You don't even notice it.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

So If I want to come back to C-town mid summer for a week and catch a few games...you're saying I should buy those tickets now instead of waiting till I get there and see who wants to come with. What exactly is the penalty for buying the tickets the same day?

bookelly wrote:So If I want to come back to C-town mid summer for a week and catch a few games...you're saying I should buy those tickets now instead of waiting till I get there and see who wants to come with. What exactly is the penalty for buying the tickets the same day?

Don't know yet. Haven't seen single game prices yet.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

bookelly wrote:So If I want to come back to C-town mid summer for a week and catch a few games...you're saying I should buy those tickets now instead of waiting till I get there and see who wants to come with. What exactly is the penalty for buying the tickets the same day?

bookelly wrote:So If I want to come back to C-town mid summer for a week and catch a few games...you're saying I should buy those tickets now instead of waiting till I get there and see who wants to come with. What exactly is the penalty for buying the tickets the same day?

Drink across the street until the 3rd inning, then get them on the street for half price or better.

I live so far away this doesn't effect me. But I don't understand why the Indians or some other pro team with low attendance doesn't just sell tickets at a flat $5. Yeah you may lose some money on ticket sales but surely you would make it up in concession sales.

Not to mention going to the Indians games becomes the cool thing for families and casual fans. Few people want to go to a 3/4 empty bar, stadium, etc. but if people saw the place rocking night after night that would cause casual fans to get more interested.

bookelly wrote:So If I want to come back to C-town mid summer for a week and catch a few games...you're saying I should buy those tickets now instead of waiting till I get there and see who wants to come with. What exactly is the penalty for buying the tickets the same day?

Don't know yet. Haven't seen single game prices yet.

Nebulous is not a business model.

The prices are out there. I got Opening Day tix thru my Progressive affiliation. Could have gotten any home game. But I didn't look at others or the pricing due to only needing the OD tix right now and wanting to ensure I got them.

hebner20 wrote:Revenue sharing. I see no other way for the long term viability of the sport.

What are you talking about. The long term viability of the sport?! The sport is absolutely as healthy as it's ever been in its long history. The freakin Dodger just sold for close to a trillion dollars and even small market teams are cashing in on lucrative regional TV deals. You're crazy if you think they are going to fuck with that.

bookelly wrote:So If I want to come back to C-town mid summer for a week and catch a few games...you're saying I should buy those tickets now instead of waiting till I get there and see who wants to come with. What exactly is the penalty for buying the tickets the same day?

Don't know yet. Haven't seen single game prices yet.

Nebulous is not a business model.

The prices are out there. I got Opening Day tix thru my Progressive affiliation. Could have gotten any home game. But I didn't look at others or the pricing due to only needing the OD tix right now and wanting to ensure I got them.

I didn't mean to say that they aren't out there, but it's not in an easy-to-read list form with dynamic pricing. You'd have to go game by game. I looked at season tickets and there are different price levels ranging from A to F, with E and F grouped together for most sections.

Also, because bookelly was mostly asking about day of game prices, that's more what I meant with my answer.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

In the past, it was also a few bucks cheaper buying the tickets at the Indians Team Shops. But now they've closed all those down so you have to pay the online fees. I work till 6:45-7pm but if I ever am able to sneak out a little early I usually go down to the games as a walk-up. The mark-up on day of game sales which has always been there seems like it got worse last year.

"And three of the better guys in franchise history, Daugherty, Z and now Kyrie could get hurt in a rubber room full of cotton balls." - Leadpipe

Happy Casual Fan Day! Home opener sold out in 15 minutes. Well, about four days and 15 minutes because of STH and Progressive Employee presales. Pretty rough for older people who have no access to or no idea how to use the internet.

As for me, I'm pissed because the voucher pack codes aren't working even though the ticket rep I talked to last week told me that they would. Throwing off my plans. Bought a couple single games where I think upper bleachers will be gone by next Monday's general on-sale date. Not the strategic strike I wanted this morning.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

skatingtripods wrote:Happy Casual Fan Day! Home opener sold out in 15 minutes. Well, about four days and 15 minutes because of STH and Progressive Employee presales. Pretty rough for older people who have no access to or no idea how to use the internet.

As for me, I'm pissed because the voucher pack codes aren't working even though the ticket rep I talked to last week told me that they would. Throwing off my plans. Bought a couple single games where I think upper bleachers will be gone by next Monday's general on-sale date. Not the strategic strike I wanted this morning.

That would be me. I watch exactly one baseball game every year, and it's the first one.

That presale thing at 10:00 was a clusterfuck. Got on there right at 10, did my search for 8 tickets in a pretty broad price range, takes a minute to search and tell you no matches. Broaden the price range. A minute later, no matches. Search Best Available (which goes up to $800). No matches. Search for 2 groups of 4 tix. No matches. Search for 2 tix. No matches.

By then, the fucking thing is sold out.

So I went to Stubhub around 5 today (where there are like 4000 tix still available in groups up to 15) and got to pay $72 for nosebleeds.

Since it's the only one I go to, I can justify that price since that's what I'd pay for a football game, but that presale bullshit is bullshit.

I second the cluster part. I logged on right at 10 and it took 3 minutes for the site to recognize the presale code to even start working. Then after a few searches I actually found tickets, but my ticketmaster account had my old expired card number. When I went in to edit my info to my updated card, it let go of the tickets and I had to start over again. By that time it was sold out.

A friend said to me yesterday, "I don't think making it harder to buy tickets is the way to go when the place is half filled 80 games a year."

Getting 8 tix is brutal. Getting 4 is as well when it's open to the public.

I have yet to buy season tickets as I get tickets regularly from a relative right behind the home dugout.

But I will buy into a package someday soon, kid is only 3 so I need him to get a little bigger so I can take him down there by myself.

Anyways, opening day I usually go with 3 other guys so 4 tickets. Search for 4 get nosebleeds very last section, fuck that, research, nothing, research, nothing, finally say fuck it I'm gonna search for 1 because I'm getting in there the hell with these guys and it comes back with 3 in the lower uppers.

Buy those, tell the other dudes to draw straws, and get a little grief. I 'may' still do it again next year but I'd probably be better off either buying a partial package and getting dibs on the OD seats OR waiting to scalp bleachers off the net.

Been going for like 15 years straight. It's my wifes birthday this year and yeah, I'm still going.

I met my Spergon Wynn's mom once in a bar in Houston. It was a little awkward.